Functional organisation of the nervous system Flashcards
What is the nervous system divided into?
Central Nervous System (CNS)
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS
What is the CNS divided into?
Brain
Spinal cord
What is the PNS sub divisions?
Sensory (afferent) division
Motor (efferent) division
What is the sensory (afferent) division made up of?
Somatic sensory neurons
Visceral sensory neurons
What is the motor (efferent) division made up of?
Autonomic nervous system (involuntary)
Somatic nervous system (voluntary)
What are the 2 divisions of the Autonomic nervous system?
Sympathetic division
Parasympathetic division
What is the spinothalamic pathway made up of?
Grey matter White matter Ganglion Nucleus Tract Pathway
What is grey matter?
High concentration of nerve cell bodies
What is white matter?
High concentration of nerve fibres/axons
Why is white matter white?
myelin gives the white appearance
What is ganglion?
Collection of nerve cells in CNS with particular function
What is a tract?
Nerve axons belonging to neurones of the same functional type (e.g. spinothalamic tract)
What is a pathway?
Collective set of neurons in conveying a signal from periphery to the cortex
What are spinothalamic neurons?
Long axon up to the brain terminates at the thalamus
What is the spinothalamic tract?
Sensory pathway from skin to the thalamus
What is the PNS formed of?
Afferent (sensory) and efferent (motor) nerve fibres
Where do the nerve fibres from the PNS emerge
From brain and spinal cord and innervate every structure in the body
How many cranial nerves arise from the base of the brain?
12 pairs
What do these cranial nerves from the base of the brain innervate?
Head (including special sense organs)
Are cranial nerves specific?
Yes, some are purely sensory, some are purely motor
Where does the vagus nerve also innervate?
Some organs of the upper body e.g. heart